Jude Bellingham has been accused of not being the finished article by former Premier League boss Graeme Souness.
Bellingham was earmarked to be one of England's players of the tournament at the Euros, but despite his incredible bicycle kick against Slovakia, he failed to meet some of the expectations in Germany.
Speaking on William Hill’s new podcast, Three Up Front, Souness criticised the senior players for not helping the 21-year-old, who is still learning the game.
He said: “Jude Bellingham has the potential to be a fabulous player. I think what happened was that when England went behind and were chasing a game and things weren’t going well, they ended up trying too hard and taking too many touches.
“I think Jude Bellingham fell into that time and time again. He was taking too many touches and that can be a negative result from trying extra hard.
“The big players, the leadership group within the England side, were quite happy for Bellingham to take the flak from the media and deal with those difficult questions that were coming his way.
“I felt that he got set up and someone needs to explain to him that he’s a young man learning the game, he’s a mile off being the finished article – he should just keep wanting to learn every day. I’d blame the senior players in the England camp for that.”
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